"Widely hailed as one of America's greatest rhetorical theorists, Kenneth Burke (1897-1993) ranged freely across many fields of knowledge, investigating the ways language, literature, and ideas relate to one another and to the social and political aspects of life. Skeptical of disciplinary boundaries, Burke garnered both praise and censure for his eclecticism.

While several intellectual movements - including the New Critics - have claimed him as a member, Burke himself strongly resisted such affiliations, often complaining that even his most ardent admirers profoundly misunderstood him. In a comprehensive examination of Burke's achievements, Ross Wolin sifts through the misconceptions associated with the critic and uncovers a complex set of theoretical concerns to which Burke devoted his career.".

"In a work that is part biography, part intellectual history, and part rhetorical theory, Wolin analyzes Burke's early essays of the 1920s and all eight of his theoretical volumes."--BOOK JACKET.